Rheumatoid arthritis, which affects 3-4% of the population, is characterized by inflammation and pain of joints. Although the etiology of rheumatoid arthritis is not known, both steroid and non-steroidal therapy have been employed to alleviate the symptoms of this illness. It is to this latter class of chemotherapeutic agents that the compounds of the present invention relate.
The potent non-steroidal antiinflammatory agent, Piroxicam, 4-hydroxy-2-methyl-N-(2-pyridyl)-2H-1,2-benzothiazine-3-carboxamide 1,1-dioxide was reported in U.S Pat. No. 3,591,584. More recently, antiinflammatory activity was found in simple non-steroidal oxindole-3-carboxamides, U.S. Pat. No. 3,634,453.